I love food just as much as anyone else, but I've been more conscious lately about what I am eating and where the food is coming from. Organic food has a higher nutritional value and is much better for your body (as you all probably know). The USDA currently puts its logo on all of the food they deem to be organic, but what about all the other farms?
My dad sent me an article posted in the New York Times that revolves around agriculture in America. I was shocked by the pictures that they showed. America has created a super-sized agriculture system that has a horrible effect on the animals.
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The picture below was taken at a turkey farm in Iowa. The article explains how they spray the turkeys with antibacterial spray in order to keep them from getting and spreading diseases and how you can actually see the sprays on the top of this big (but small in comparison with the number of turkeys) farm. It’s absurd! How can we possibly need so much turkey that it has resulted in farmers having to spray their animals with antibacterial spray?!
This other picture below stuck out to me more than the one of the turkeys. The pigs shown are mothers who lay down and feed their piglets all day. That is basically their entire life until they get slaughtered. An interesting thing about this farm, though, is that it is actually a tourist attraction. It is called the “Pig Adventure,” and you can learn more about pigs. I doubt the tourists that attend this know what goes on behind the scenes.
How can we accept that this is happening in the twenty-first century here in the United States? There is a large population and we do need a lot of food to feed everyone, but these conditions should be considered unacceptable. We also import a lot of our food, so there should be enough with a surplus either way.
What shocks me the most is how can the USDA allow all of this to go on under their supervision. They are aware that this is occurring, yet there is no attempt to ban, change or help in any way. There is one example in the article that actually refers to a farm that is considered organic. How can these conditions be considered organic? Shouldn’t the USDA have regulations for how the food is made and under what conditions?
